Any recommendations for accommodation Paris, London, Venice

[Fudge]

We are looking at travelling later this year to Paris, London, Venice (really not sure). We are only just looking on the net, and are wanting to find places to stay in each that are close to "things", not too expensive (we don't need the Hilton), but perhaps come recommended by others.

Some comments from Previous posters mentioned the subway / Metro system in Paris was good. I second this (The few times I have been anyway) Very easy to get around. The train service on the outskirts of Paris is pretty good too. I think I used this for Euro disney and one of the graveyards where the Rothschilds are laid and Jimmy Morrison.

Why not stay in Paris a while and then get the Eurostar accross the channel to Stratty or King Cross / St Pancreas. Then you can do the London thing.

One thing I would suggest is that don't delay it. Our exchange rate is doing pretty well at the moment, and also I have been told by my Property Manager over in London, that once 2012 comes, he will be looking at raising my rents over there considerably and setting up short lets at significantly higher rental rates for the influx of tourism for the Olympic Games. He mentioned this would come on around Feb 2012, as people will be looking at setting up camp there for a few months before??

With accomodation in London, depends what you want to do....There are good little bed n breakfasts on Tottenham Court Road that are reasonably priced, but there are other apartments over there that are just as good.

Dependant on what your comfort zone is, the comradarie between Aus, SA and Kiwis are great. Go to the Gumtree website. (It is over here now, but was started in London for the Aussies / Kiwis, etc. The Gumtree is a great resource, and you could get some house share / swaps for the short amount of time you are there for.

Also, check out the TNT magazine. (http://www.tntmagazine.com/). This is fnatastic as well. It comes out weekly free of charge and is available at most tube stations. I think you can download copies from the internet? Source accomodation here as well. This magazine has grown from a small paper to support Aussies / Kiwis 'stay alive' in London, but has now a great travel guide and classified section.

These would be my recommendations.

F

 

[wylie]

I like the idea of house swaps, and joined a couple of years ago with the idea of swapping for a month when we looked at the New York holiday, but this time we are leaving two kids (and a granny to annoy them ) here so that would be a bit of a shock to the incoming visitors .

 

[bluestorm]

I think Wylie, you should concentrate on the 3 cities you want to do. If in Italy, depending on your taste, there is soo much more to see and do.

Spending some time in the steepest city in Italy....Positana is beuatiful. Have been to all the touristic cities around Italy over 4 visits now, and do recommend them (i.e. Venice, Pisa, Florence, Pompei, Rome, (even Crete), but would have to say that the gereat stuff is off the beaten track (for instance, in Tuscanny, there is a fantasic place outside of Pongibonsi caleed San Gimanano (Spelling not right though). Fantastic place. Great area for wine, chesses and olives.

F

Agree that there is a lot to see, but I think on a 3 week trip travelling half way around the world (rather than a 4-5mths trip), you may want to cover more, rather than contentrate on 3 cities, or one country.

Depends on how well you plan I suppose (see the things you are interested in, and miss the things in the guide books that don't interest you). We did Egypt (13 days), Jordan (8 days), Tanzania (8 days) as a fairly leisurely pace in 1mth, and covered everything with time to spare and relax.

I think Venice (2 days), Florence (2.5days), Rome (4days), Paris (4-5days), London (5 days) and 4 days for misc towns here and there on 1/2 or full day trips from the central locations. Pisa (didn't go, only thing there really is the tower. You can say you've been, but there are plenty of more interesting places to see). Pompeii, etc www.viator.com is a good site for day trips around the world.

http://www.viator.com/tours/Rome/Pompeii-and-Vesuvius-Day-Trip-from-Rome/d511-3731VESUVIUS

 

[simo74]

I'm a bit nervous about having NO french language at all. I will make an effort to learn the basic things I need (coffee, toilet, etc).

Friends who went recently said that most people do speak English and to make sure that they know we are Australian because they are more helpful to Australians than the English. Not sure about Americans?

They may know English however this is no guarantee they will speak it. Parisians love their country and language and have a high respect for formality so my advice to you would be to attempt to learn some basic phrases and use these in your dealings with the locals. I found that making the effort made all the difference. They will appreciate your attempt no matter how bad

Regarding accomodation in Paris. Consider renting a private apartment. Cheaper than a hotel and in most cases many times the size with living room, kitchen etc. Paris hotels rooms are tiny....
There are literally hundreds of apartments for rent in Paris.

I used the following sites for paris accomodation
http://www.parisaddress.com/paris-apartment-rental/home.html
http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/europe/france/ile-de-france/paris
http://www.paristay.com/
http://www.centreparis.com/

And this is the apartment we choose
http://www.vrbo.com/196348#ownerprofile

Also don't be worried about your safety in Paris. I feel less safe in Melbourne CBD on a Friday night.

 

[jaycee]

I'm a bit nervous about having NO french language at all. I will make an effort to learn the basic things I need (coffee, toilet, etc).

Friends who went recently said that most people do speak English and to make sure that they know we are Australian because they are more helpful to Australians than the English. Not sure about Americans?[/QUOTE]

Take a wild wild guess....

 

[xactly]

HI wylie

Venice is expensive and very touristy but gorgeous.
I stayed in Padua, 30mins away by train, they run all the time. its cheaper to stay, not as crowded and is the oxford of italy!

it has one of the oldest universities in the world, Gallileo was there. it has a large outdoor market, amazing square with statues and has a cosy real italian feel,
it is also a good jump off for verona, romeo and juliet territory but i didnt get time to go there
next time.

Padua might give you a bit more flexibility, see more of italy and be easier on the wallet.

Dont worry about english in France
"Je suis Australian!" got my 60yo parents all around France
they had a ball and even got themselves on a daytrip out of paris on the train to monets garden. they had never been out of the country before that trip and they managed well.
They were so proud of themselves! I was frankly amazed.
Or maybe the french took pity on them with thier matching rex hunt fishing vests (Oh god the shame...)
Check out plenty of iphone apps for emergency phrases that even speak for you and translate!
you will be fine, enjoy

 

[Graemsay]

London - if you want simple, i like the St Pauls YMCA.

I'm guessing that you're referring to the City YMCA in the Barbican centre.

I've stayed there a few times, and it has the advantage of being cheap (£37 / $60 approx for a large single room), with an enormous breakfast included. But has the disadvantage of being in need of redecorating, no en suite, and having a large number of students and young people it can be quite noisy at night.

I stayed at the Coronation Hotel in Earls Court just before Christmas. It had recently been renovated, and was in good condition, but the room was tiny. (Space for a bed, and that's about it.)

 

[pennyk]

My friend owns an apartment in Paris, so I sent her a quick msg to see if it was available... its rented long term unfortunately....... but she sent her recommendations.....

We stay at Citadines apartments if we need to. They are online but interestingly travel agents get a better deal through Tempo travel.

There are several in Paris. Some in better areas than others . Try Opera, St Germaine or Louvre and La Hall. Best to stay at least 7 days to get a good rate.

cheers Pen

 

[Graemsay]

Forgot to say, get an Oyster card when you're visiting London.

You can buy one at any Tube station for a refundable deposit of £3. They need to be topped up before you travel, but are cheaper than buying tickets from machines, and can be used on the underground, buses, ferries and rail network within London.

 

[wylie]

Fantastic, I like the idea of the Oyster card. Thanks.

I have a lot of homework from this thread. Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to be busy for a little while.

Happy to hear more.

 

[Molly07]

We are looking at travelling later this year to Paris, London, Venice (really not sure). We are only just looking on the net, and are wanting to find places to stay in each that are close to "things", not too expensive (we don't need the Hilton), but perhaps come recommended by others.

Searching thousands of places on the net is rather daunting, and I know that photos on the net often don't live up to reality. I'd love to hear some recommendations.

We are leaning towards going for three weeks and staying perhaps three or four or more nights at several places, but have never been to Europe so we are open to ideas from anyone who has any tips for us.

I also found the Flipkey site when our son went to New York, and whilst they didn't use it, but stayed el cheap at YMCA, I like the idea of staying in someone's house rather than a hotel. I wonder if anybody has used Flipkey or has heard good or bad reviews about it?

Hi Wylie,

I stayed in a B&B in San Polo - "Happy Venice" in August of last year. The lady who owns / runs it is one of the nicest people you will meet but she doesn't speak a word of english! I booked through hostelworld.com It cost 180 euros for two nights at peak season. Make sure you go to Murano. Glass blowing sounds boring, but trust me, there is a real art to what they do. Never seen anything like it.
One tip - to find the place, follow the numbers on the houses / buildings as there are no street signs in Venice. The water ferry will take you to San Polo and off you go! Beautiful place, I'm very, very jealous!!!

 

[BV]

Make sure you go to Murano. Glass blowing sounds boring, but trust me, there is a real art to what they do. Never seen anything like it

I didn't go to this but someone who did told me that he was under a lot of pressure to buy something there and when he did, they said they'll post it to him.

They did, but the item was made in China.

He didn't even ask to go, the bus simply turned up at his hotel and was getting all the tourists to come along for free.........

 

[jaycee]

There's shop in Perth called Mruano.... I noticed it the day it opened and pretty much each time I went past, very beautiful things,

 

[wobbycarly]

Just another thought.....

Having never "done" Europe, nor travelled much at all, we want to see Paris and Venice. We thought London would be good, but does anybody have any other places they have been to that they would recommend.

I guess we might travel a bit more in the future, so don't feel the need to squash too much in and turn into a manic "must see this", "must see that" tourist .

When our youngest has finished school, we can see what we missed this time .

We did a Trafalgar tour as an "orientation" - 17 days and visited 7 countries or something. Probably not the cheapest option, but we didn't have to worry about meals, accom, transfers, etc, and now know where we'd like to go back to.

 

[wylie]

We are at the north coast for the week so won't do much "homework" until I get back home but booked our flights yesterday.

Flying to Singapore for one night to break the long journey and get a good sleep. Hopefully it will lessen our fatigue when we hit London. We fly out from Milan straight home. We can sleep when we get back so didn't take a stopover on return trip.

Once we work out what we want to see we will probably travel by train (maybe plane) between London and Paris and Italy. I like the idea of fast train to avoid too much wait time at airports. I have lots of research to do.

 

[jaycee]

Have a great trip, I can't imagine why woudn't have the time of your lives....

 

[wylie]

I just wanted to say a big "THANK YOU" to those who gave tips, hints and leads for finding accommodation etc.

I have spent a LOT of time reading and re-reading this thread and have gone google-eyed with my googling and have now booked almost all our accommodation.

Once I started taking little chunks at a time, it just got easier, but I did notice that the same hotel or BnB could be vastly differently priced depending on the different sites. A real trap for the unwary, which I certainly was until I was warned to check for this trap.

We are having six nights in London and will do some day trips, and just wander around and see what we want to see at our leisure. We chose a place near Kings Cross/St Pancras in order to be able to get anywhere easily.

We will then take the train via the Chunnel to Paris and have five nights there. We chose a little place off the tourist path in Paris but with easy train access to get into the centre of Paris. It is a old converted shop and the reviews were great.

We then fly to Rome for four nights, train to Florence for two nights, to Venice for two nights and the last two nights we will spend in the Como area before flying out from Milan.

I have only to book Venice and Como and then it is all booked.

We chose two or three star places with cooked breakfasts included. We pay a little more for the breakfast, but it is cheaper than having to find somewhere to eat and paying for breakfast separately and we can fill ourselves with good food and get through to lunchtime without needing to stop and eat again.

The reviews are probably the most time consuming but worth reading. Some hotels sounded fantastic, until I read the reviews. Obviously you have to take the reviews with a grain of salt. One man's meat is another man's poison, but reading a few gives a fair indication of a problem that is discussed over and over.

I plan on checking out the Oyster card and will discuss what sort of multi-use train ticket we would be best to get (there are more than 50 different passes with Rail Europe ) to get us from Rome and up through Italy.

I'm much more settled than when I started this thread. I was feeling very overwhelmed, but doing little bits at a time has broken it down for me, and I am starting to look forward to it now.

So..... thank you for all the advice, tips and hints. I really appreciate them.

 

[pennyk]

ohhh, sounds like its going to be great fun. I'm very jealous!!
and if any of the accommodation is not up to scratch, it will still add to the overall experience!!

Also look into the London Pass and I think there is one for Paris. The big advantage is not standing in queues to buy tickets!!

 

[Aaron Sice]

I'm guessing that you're referring to the City YMCA in the Barbican centre.

I've stayed there a few times, and it has the advantage of being cheap (£37 / $60 approx for a large single room), with an enormous breakfast included. But has the disadvantage of being in need of redecorating, no en suite, and having a large number of students and young people it can be quite noisy at night.

sorry, no - the St Pauls YHA - my mistake.

the old choir boy's school.

really nice spot.

i wouldn't stay in earls court if you paid me. i can imagine nothing worse than going to london and hanging out with bl**dy queenslanders...

 

[annE]

Hi Wylie

what I didn't see mentioned as yet in this thread is:

1. check about the museum pass for Paris. You may have to buy it outside France. I think the automobile clubs may sell them. I know the one in Austria did.

2. if you love going to museums check their websites FIRST to see if you have to book online for an entrance ticket. I know this is a fact for some museums in Florence and the one showing the Last Supper in Milan. It seems to be happening more often.

Have a super holiday

annE